A 73-year-old librarian playacting as a victim in a "shoot/don't shoot" exercise at a Florida police community event was shot and killed Tuesday night by an officer who mistakenly fired live ammunition instead of blank rounds, according to Punta Gorda, Fla., police.

Mary Knowlton was shot several times by a Punta Gorda police officer playing a "bad guy" in the scenario designed to demonstrate the quick decisions that police must make on the job, said Sue Paquin, a photographer who was covering the event for the Charlotte Sun.

He was a fuckup who was hired after washing out of another department:

Three years before the shooting that led to the death of 73-year-old Mary Knowlton on Tuesday, Lee Coel was accused twice of using excessive force and relieved of his duties before investigators found he violated department policies and was allowed to resign.

This year, he was sued in Punta Gorda after he ordered his K-9 to attack a bicyclist who was stopped for riding without a light at night, inflicting severe injuries that required surgery.

I'll be happy to listen to people's complaints about teachers unions just as soon as those same people start complaining about police unions. With shitty teachers you get dumb citizens. With shitty cops people die.